I have been very busy with my Spring/Passover cleaning. The rest of the house is done and now I have moved onto the kitchen. This is the trickiest part of the whole process and the most time consuming.
This is what I have learned:
- A toothbrush is an amazing cleaning tool. I don’t know why I did not realize this before. I had been using toothpicks and Q-tips up until now. The toothbrush is my new best friend!
- There is a tremendous amount of gook in an oven.
- Do not take all the shelves out of your refrigerator because you might not remember where to put them when it is time to get them back in. Take one shelf out at a time, clean it, put it back in.
- There are crumbs in very strange places in your kitchen.
Other epiphanies that I had:
I needed the kids to help clean the kitchen cabinets. I realized that with 4 children, they would probably be able to finish it in 10 minutes. So instead of saying:
“Can you help me clean the cabinets?”
I said:
“I need 10 minutes of your time. Grab a toothpick (this was before my toothbrush epiphany) and a paper towel and come over here for a quick tutorial on how to clean the outside of our kitchen cabinets.”
Somehow it is easier for kids to cooperate if they know they are only giving up 10 minutes of their time.
After 8 minutes my son said, I am going out to play. I told him that he still needed to work for 2 minutes. He left anyway. I decided to leave it alone. When he came back in about a half hour later, I said,
“I was disappointed before, I told you to clean for another 2 minutes and you left. I felt it was disrespectful. Here is a paper towel and a toothpick. The cabinets over here need to be done. Thanks.”
My state of mind:
I have been able to keep my cool, but feel a little snippy at times. I am just trying not to talk to much when I am feeling impatient. I am also trying to keep my requests kind but firm.
I want to say:
“I cannot believe you left your dirty clothing all over the bathroom floor!”
I say kindly and firmly:
“Dirty clothing belongs in the laundry room! It needs to go there now.”
This is my list of jobs for kids for next week:
Peel potatoes
Peel apples
Peel carrots
Peel zuchinni
Fold laundry
The list is a work in progress. I will try to keep you posted as I add more jobs!
I am hoping to start my cooking this Sunday.